Power and control

- a seminar series at IKL

Power and control are pivotal themes in social science, and studies of discipline, agency, authority and resistance figure prominently in organization, communication and management studies, anthropology, political science and sociology alike. Still, in most research questions of power and control figure as the overall theme or in the final reflections. This initiative seeks to foreground and reinvigorate discussions of power and control through a series of conversations with internationally respected scholars, who will be invited to look forward and offer guidance on the future shape of innovative, cross-disciplinary studies of power and control.

 Focusing on biopower and seduction, this seminar brings together:

• Professor Karen Ashcraft (University of Colorado, Boulder)

• Professor Peter Fleming (Queen Mary, University of London)

• Professor Dennis Mumby (University of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• Professor André Spicer (Warwick Business School)

and CBS researchers to consider how we may study situations marked by empowerment, participation, and other seductive forms of power and control. In particular, the seminar elaborates upon how the bios – the lived experience of the person – becomes harnessed and mobilized as resource for collective entities such as the corporation, the social movement or the common good. This seminar will focus on the value and limits of prevalent conceptions of power and control – such as hegemony, discipline, resistance and struggle – for studies of situations where power seems to disappear or be cast in very different terms, such as engagement, experience, excitement, ethics and opportunities.

Professor Paul du Gay (IOA) will lead the discussion, and all participants are expected to take part in the conversation – so do prepare questions and comments! Papers (short think-pieces) will be circulated to registered participants one week in advance.